Always
by ladymars
Summary: Follow up to 'Heaven on Earth.' Dante spends a sleepless night realsing not everything is always what it seems.


Always

Lady Mars 

Disclaimer: I don't own Devil May Cry or One. Now to get the full effect of the song you have to listen to the Filter version from the X- Files movie soundtrack. The Three Dog Night Version just doesn't work with the dark theme going on here. Enjoy!

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_One is the loneliest number that you'll ever do,_

_Two can be as bad as one, _

_It's the loneliest number since the number one._

_No is the saddest experience you'll ever know;_

_Yes is the saddest experience you'll ever know,_

_Cuz one is the loneliest number that you'll ever know._

_One is the loneliest number,_

_Even worse than two._

Dante padded down the stairs, knuckling the sleep from his eyes and stretching it from his tried, sore muscles. _'Why can't I sleep past two in the morning? Is it some unwritten curse that half- breeds are supposed to be insomniacs or is it my dumb luck?'_ He slowly walked to the kitchen, grabbing the CD player from Trish's desk and his journal in the process. _'At least I'll have Dad to keep me company once again.'  He sat down at one of the stools and flipped the book open to a random entry. __'And maybe he'll be able to solve some more of my life's little mysteries.' He snorted. _'Yeah right.'_ He slowly began to read the familiar runes of his father's handwriting. _

**_I'm surprised that Eva hasn't killed me yet. I know that she's tolerant to most of my stunts, but this one has got to take the cake for her. She has always told me to be careful around the boys, and I always have. But sometimes, sometimes it cannot be helped. _**

**_I knew they would be dropping in for an update; they always checked in once a month since Lucifer's power was taken from Mundus. They were my only link to the underworld, my past. I'm blessed to have friends like them; Lucifer's lucky to have assassins like them. But this time they, and I, weren't so lucky. Not ever Lucifer's chief assassins can stand up to the wrath of a human mother, or any mother for that matter._**

**_She freaked out when she answered the door. Ifrit was no problem, she had seen fire devils before. But Alistor, oh Alistor, was a whole different level. I was lucky her gun wasn't loaded. If it had been, I would have had an unhappy wife and an unhappy Alistor on my hands. But if I had listened to the little voices, none of this would have happened._**

**_Once I had gotten Eva calm, the arduous task that it was, I introduced the boys to my boys. Vergil took to them like family; Dante... Dante wasn't so easy to trust. It took him a bit, but he finally opened up a bit to Alistor. I should have known better, but it didn't hit me until it was too late.   Dante had always been fond of crystals, so naturally he latched onto Alistor's. That shall henceforth as mistake number two. Dante got no more than a shock out of it, but it scared Alistor and Eva more. I hope that it won't affect him too much, but Alistor assures me it won't._**

Dante stared at the page. _'Lucifer's chief assassins? He was friends with Lucifer's chief assassins? And on top of all of the, I was exposed to Alistor's raw power?' Dante's gaze shifted from the page to his arms, more precisely the black lighting bolts dancing around them. __'That's why. I always wondered why I could handle that sword. No other devil could, or can. So I'm not just lucky, I am special. Verg was right all along, I AM a freak.' He sighed and went back to his journal, turning a few pages to a new entry._

**_I hate making decisions. But is one of those situations that I had to. I am nearing the end of my days and my things need to be passed on to the boys. I really want to give Force's Edge to Dante, but Vergil is much more suited to handle it. Dante is a good boy nonetheless, but he just isn't MADE to handle a sword. He's like his mother; he's more of a gun man. He can handle a sword, but not as well as Vergil can. And I feel bad for him because of it. I know he'll never be anything compared to Vergil. The boy is an intellect, plain and simple. He was never meant to be a devil hunter, despite it being in his blood. I hate to say this, but he is in no way cut out to be what he needs to be, and, in the end, that will come back to haunt him. What is worse is the fact that I spawned this. This is inadvertently my fault. I always paid more attention to Vergil _**

**_I never meant to be unfair; it just happened that way. Vergil always seemed more open to me than Dante, but I should have taken the extra step to make him know that I cared.  And now I have run out of time. I hope, one day, he takes the time to read this and I hope he understands that I never meant to hurt him._**

**_But I couldn't control it. Vergil always picked on him; being bigger, stronger, and faster made it an unfair fight from the start. I guess it was those situations that made it hard, hard for both of us. I always wanted to help him, but Eva always said that it was better for them to take it out on each other once in a while. I somehow feel like I betrayed him. He wasn't strong to begin with and this just doesn't help. _**

**_Alistor once told me that the worst thing to have is a conscious for it will get to you in the end. I now understand what he means; I never meant to feel this way, but here I am once again. I never meant to feel this way, but I do. To make it all worse, there is nothing I can do about it now. The only consolation I have is that Dante will read this one day and forgive me. Dante, I'm sorry._**

Dante stared at the page. He never knew how his father felt about him. There was something unnerving about reading his words and finally understanding what was going through the man's head. He shut the diary and slowly got up from the table. _'I… I can't believe it. Why dad? Why didn't you just TELL ME?' He crashed into the nearest wall, not really aware of what he had done. His body depleted from the mental anguish, Dante collapsed next to the window. He watched as the pale moonlight dancer along the wood floor he was sitting on. _'God.___ Why is it that wherever I go, something reminds me of HER or Dad? Is it fate mocking me? I can't escape them. Everywhere I turn, they're there. Of all people… Why does it always have to be them?' Dante shifted, trying to get comfortable; he knew he'd be on the floor for a while. The situation was always a bit awkward for him; he never truly knew his father and yet every little thing was reminding him of the Dark Knight. He never wanted to admit that he missed his father, but the weakness was always there. It was like a shadow looming over his head every waking moment. _

He ran his hands over his face, trying to get everything back into perspective. His whole life seemed to be collapsing around him and yet it seemed to all fall into the right place at the right time. This bothered the man; every time that everything seemed to be going right, something happened to make it all wrong again. That was the story of his life; nothing ever changed. Every time something good came along, someone else would yank the rug out from under him, thus leaving him right back where he started. _'And Trish wonders why I drink. It makes life so much easier in the end. It helps me forget, even if it's for a little while.'_ He sighed again; being an insomniac was getting to him. _'Why can't I be normal for once in my life? Why can't I…'_ Dante stopped mid thought when the energy force appeared. He slowly rose to his feet; the air in the office was silent, but he knew he wasn't alone. He watched the four pairs of sitting at the top of the stairs. With slight apprehension, the man rose. He walked to the island and set the CD player down. He moved slowly back towards his desk; he knew that the Shadows had seen him, but he hoped they wouldn't attack just yet. His hope was shattered when the first one shot down the stairs and plowed into him. He rolled to the left, gaining the upper hand for not but a moment. The Shadow evaporated under his grip, leaving the devil staring at the wood floor. He swung to his right and rose to his feet. Dante was now staring down four Shadows again. The four demons didn't seemed threatened; Dante knew they were dangerous, more so because they were in the office. He took a few steps backwards, trying to get to any of his weapons when he tripped over one of the Shadows. He twisted in mid-air, trying to regain his balance, and slammed his head against the side of Trish's desk. Dante watched as the blood spilled from his head and pooled on the floor. His eyes glazed over in anger. With logic defying speed, Dante lunged and grabbed the Shadow that tripped him, unwilling to let the beast go. He stared at the beast's red eyes as the blue lightning danced down his forearms.

"Not so smart are we now?" he hissed. The demon struggled in his grasp, trying to get away. This movement caused Dante to tighten his grip and release the full force of his power. The lightning now danced from his arms to the Shadow. The beast whimpered in pain, but Dante didn't let up. After a few moments, Dante dropped the limp form of the Shadow down to his feet; the other three gazed at their fallen comrade and then back at Dante. Upon seeing the fire burning in his eyes, the trio made a hasty retreat. Dante took a deep breath, trying to calm down. The moment he calmed, he slowly walked up the stairs and to his room. He leaned in and found Trish, still asleep in her bed. He smiled and walked back down the stairs. He stepped back into the kitchen, grabbed the CD player, diary, and a dish towel in the process. He pressed the towel to his gash, trying to reduce the bleeding, and sat down at the desk. He flipped to and empty diary page and began writing.

**_I swear that woman is going to be the end of me. Four Shadows came after her again. Why they come after her is beyond me; I'm the one they should be coming after. And yet, I still protect her. I'll protect her always._**

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Trish walked down the stairs, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She rounded the corner and gasped. Dante was asleep at his desk; a pen meticulously balanced between his fingers and a blood soaked towel under his head. She walked over and scanned the few words written on the diary page before shutting it and pulling the headphones off of Dante's head. She slid them on and smiled at what he was listening to. 

_It's just no good anymore since you went away,_

_Now I spend my time just making up rhymes of yesterday._

_One is the loneliest number; one is the loneliest number,_

_One is the loneliest number since you went away, _

_Since you went away._


End file.
